Springs



Patented May I6, |899. L. B. EDGAR. SEAL LOCK.

(No Model.)

4l l t NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUOIEN B. EDGAR, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDS TO D. II. JENKINS AND W. H. TUTTLE, OF SAME'PLAOE.

SEAL-Lock.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 625,027, dated. Maly 16, 1899.

Application filed April 30, 1898. Serial No.679,365. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, LUCIEN B. EDGAR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Seal-Lock, of whichthe following is a specification. i

My invention relates to seal-locks, and particularly to a lock of this class designed for use in connection with railway freight and other cars; and the object in view is tol provide a-simple, compact, and eiiicient construction and arrangement of parts whereby a 'car or other receptacle door-may be securely locked and held against opening except by such mutilation of a seal as to render the detection of the fraud apparent.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following` description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a car-seal lock constructed in accordance with my invention applied in the operative position to the contiguous portions of a car door and frame. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig-3 isa vertical transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the seal-holder detached. Fig. 6 is a front View, partly broken away, of a slightly-modified construction wherein ahasp or latch of a different class is employed.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a seal-case constructed for permanent attachment to a car door, frame, or other support, as by means of perforated ears 2 for engagement bybolts 3. This case is provided in its front and rear walls with alined openings 4 and 5, and between said walls and of larger area than the openings is a parallel-sided seat 6, designed for the reception of the reduced orv blade portion 7 of a sealholder constructed separately from the case and removably fitted therein. The upper portion of the seal-holder. is enlarged to form a cap or head 8 and having a channeled or recessed under surfaceto receive and t down over the upper edge of the case, and thus form a water-shed and break-joint. The seal-holder is also of skeleton form to provide an opening 9,which registers with the openings in the front and rear walls of the case, and in one side of the blade of the holderis formed a cross-sectionally dovetailed seal-seat 10, adapted for the reception of a frangible seal 6o `1l, of clay, glass, or other equivalent material, provided with suitable markings for identifying the road and indicating the destination of the car in connection with which the seal-lock embodying myinvention is used. The seal-seat is open at its lower or inner end to provide for the upward introduction `of the seal., and hence when the seal-holder is introduced downwardly through the open upper end of the seal-holder seat in the case 1 the 7o seal is securely lockedin its place and is protected against the introduction of tools through the upper end of the case by the overhanging and interlocking engagement of the cap or upper enlarged end of the sealholder with the contiguous end of the case. This holder is secured in place bya concealed seal-catch 11a, attached to the cap or head of the holder, and preferably consisting of a steel-spring provided with an offset or shoul- 8o der 11b to engage a corresponding shoulder on the case, such a corresponding shoulder being formed in the construction illustrated by the upper end of the opening in the rear wall of the case, as shown in Fig. -3. As the free end of this catch is in rear of the plane of the seal-holder it is inaccessible except through the seal-holder seat and the opening in the front wall of the case, and therefore can be reached to release the seal-holder only go after previously breaking the seal.

Various forms of hasps or latches may be used in connection with the construction of seal-support above described; but in Figs. l to 5, inclusive, I have illustrated a pivoted latch or hasp 12, fulcrumed, as at 13, and having a hooked free end for engagement with a stationary bolt or pin 14, located, for instance, upon the car-door frame, inasmuch as a latch of the class described is preferably 10c carried by the car-door. The latch is provided atan intermediate point with` a handle` or grip 16, which extends forwardly through a segmental slot 17 in the car-door at a point in registration with the openings in the front and rear walls of the case, whereby when the seal-holder, with its seal, is fitted in the case said latch handle or grip is concealed. In addition t0 this precaution, however, I have found it desirable to employ in connection with the latch or hasp a locking-pin 18, removably fitted in a suitable opening 19 in the car-door or its equivalent transversely in the path of the latch 12. Hence after the engagement of the latch with the stationary pin or bolt 14 the insertion of the locking-pin 1S secures the latch against swinging movement to disengage it from said bolt or pin, and as the guide in which this locking-pin is removably mounted communicates and registers with the alined openings in the front and rear walls of the case 1 it will be seen that when the seal is in place it covers and protects the locking-pin, as well as the latch handle or grip, and thus prevents tamperingr with the lock rexcept by previously breaking the seal.

In the modified construction illustrated in Fig. (i the only essential difference over that above described resides in the fact that the hasp or latch 12a is of the loosely-swinging type mounted upon a door and provided with a terminal opening 15 for engagement by a locking-pin 1S, the case with this construction of hasp or latch being preferably secured to the door-frame, but being of identically the same construction as that above described. The hasp 12 is slotted longitudinally, as shown at 12b, to provide for longitudinal movement in the arrangement of its free end in such a position as to cause the registration of itsopening 15 with the guide for the locking-pin 18.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A seal-lock having a case provided with an access-opening, a seal-holder removably fitted to slide in a seat in the case, and provided with a terminally-open seal-seat, adapted to be closed by a wall of the seal-holder seat, said seal-seat being designed for the reception of a seal to close the access-opening of the case, and a locking device, accessible within the case, for securing the seal-holder in its seat, substantially as specified.

2. rlhe combination with a locking-pin, of a case inclosing the exposed end of the locking-pin and provided in its front wall with an opening through which the locking-pin is accessible, a seal-holder fitted to slide in a seat in the case parallel with the plane of saidl wall thereof, and provided with a terminally-accessible seal-seat adapted to be closed by a wall of the case when the seal-holder is seated therein, and a locking device for the seal-holder arranged in rear of the plane of said seal-seat, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with a locking-pin, of a case for inclosing the exposed end of the locking-pin and provided with an open front wall and a parallel seal-holder seat open at one end, a seal-holder removably tted in said seat and provided with a seal-seat open at the opposite end from said seal-holder seat and adapted to be closed by a wall of the case when the seal-holder is seated, and a locking device for the seal-holder arranged in rear of the plane of the seal-seat, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with a locking-pin, of a case inclosing the exposed end of the locking-pin and having an open front wall and a parallel seal-holder seat open at its upper end, a seal-holder fitted to slide in said seat and provided with a seal-seat open at its lower end, an d a terminal enlargement or head channeled or recessed'at its inner side to receive the contiguous edge of the case, the open end of the seal-seat being closed by the lower wall of the seal-holder seat, when the seal-hoider is seated, and a locking device for the seaiholder arranged in rear of the plane of said seal-seat, substantially as specified.

5. The combination with a locking-pin, of a case for inclosing the exposed end of' the locking-pin and provided with an open-ended seal-holderseat,aseal-holder removably fitted in said seat and provided with an open-ended seal-seat, and a shouldered spring-catch carried by the seal-holder for engagement with a shoulder on the case in rear of the plane of said seal-seat, substantially as specified.

G. The combination in a seal-lock of alatch or hasp, a locking-pin detachably engaged with said latch, a case for inclosing the exposed end of the locking-pin and having an open-ended seal-holder seat, a seal-holder removably fitted in said seat and provided with an open-ended seal-seat, and alocking device, forsecurin g the seal-holder in place, arranged in rear of the plane of the seal-seat, substantially as specified.

'7. The combination in a seal-lock of a swinging hasp or latch, a handle or grip for said latch, a locking-pin removably engaged with the hasp or latch, a case having open front and rear Walls, for inclosing the exposed portions of said locking-pin and handle or grip, and provided between said walls with an openended seal-holder seat, a seal-holder removably fitted in said seat and provided with an open-ended seal-seat, and a locking device, for securing the seal-holder in place, arranged in rear of the plane of the seal-seat, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LUCIEN B. EDGAR.

Witnesses:

W. R. MA'rsoN, J. W. KRIGER.

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